Top 10 Takeaways From Silicon Valley Healthcare CEOs

I've been a part of some great healthcare technology discussions while at HealthLeaders Media, but perhaps none covered more ground and got to the heart of more issues in less time than a meeting last week between some of Silicon Valley's top healthcare entrepreneurs and four top executives—three of them CEOs—representing healthcare providers with a Valley presence.

Hosted by the University of California, San Francisco, this 100-minute meeting of minds got right to the promise and the pitfalls of technology in healthcare, and highlighted just what an inflection point we've reached as 2012 draws to a close.

For one thing, I was struck by how many hospitals are taking selected tech startups under their wing, offering business advice and intimate glimpses for a lucky few developers into their particular workflow challenges.

For another, I was struck by the intricate knowledge these top executives had about technology. Gone are the days when the CEO left all that to the CIO or the CFO. These industry captains know their way around Meaningful Use and cloud computing.